Khan first appeared on screen as a child actor in his uncle Nasir Hussain's film Yaadon Ki Baaraat (1973). His first feature film role came with the experimental filmHoli (1984), and he began a full-time acting career with a leading role in the highly successful tragic romance Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak (1988). His performance in the film and in the thriller Raakh (1989) earned him a Special Jury Award at the National Film Award ceremony. He established himself as a leading actor of Hindi cinema in the 1990s by appearing in several commercially successful films, including the romantic drama Dil (1990), the romance Raja Hindustani (1996), for which he won his first Filmfare Award for Best Actor, and the drama Sarfarosh (1999).[5][6] He was also noted for playing against type in the critically acclaimed Canadian-Indian film Earth (1998).

In addition to acting, Khan is a humanitarian and has participated and spoken out for various social causes, some of which have sparked political controversy. He has created, and featured as the host of the television talk show Satyamev Jayate through which he highlights sensitive social issues in India. Khan was married to his first wife, Reena Dutta, for fifteen years after which he married the film director Kiran Rao. He has three children—two with Dutta, and one with Rao through surrogacy.

Contents

Early life and background1

Career2

Actor2.1

Early career2.1.1

Back-to-back success2.1.2

Blockbuster films2.1.3

Film production and direction2.2

Television2.3

Humanitarian and political causes3

In the media4

Personal life5

Filmography6

Awards and honours7

See also8

References9

External links10

Early life and background

Khan was born on 14 March 1965 in Mumbai to Tahir Hussain, a film producer, and Zeenat Hussain.[8][9][10] Several of his relatives were members of the Hindi film industry, including his late paternal uncle, the producer-director Nasir Hussain.[10] He is related to the Indian philosopher Abul Kalam Azad who is related to him through his grandmother.[11][12] Khan is the eldest of four siblings; he has a brother, the actor Faisal Khan, and two sisters, Farhat and Nikhat Khan.[13] His nephew, Imran Khan, is a contemporary Hindi film actor.[14]

As a child, Khan appeared on screen in two minor roles. At the age of eight, he appeared in a highly popular song in the Nasir Hussain-directed musical film Yaadon Ki Baaraat (1973).[15][16] The following year, he portrayed the younger version of Mahendra Sandhu's character in his father's production Madhosh.[15] Khan attended J.B. Petit School for his pre-primary education, later switching to St. Anne's High School, Bandra till the eight grade, and completed his ninth and tenth grade at the Bombay Scottish School, Mahim.[17] He played tennis in state level championships, and has professed being "much more into sports than studies".[17][18] He completed his twelfth grade from Mumbai's Narsee Monjee College.[19] Khan described his childhood as "tough" due to the financial problems faced by his father whose film productions were mostly unsuccessful; he said, "there would be at least 30 calls a day from creditors calling for their money" and he was always at risk of being expelled from school for non-payment of fees.[20]

At the age of sixteen, Khan was involved in the experimental process of making a 40-minute silent film, entitled Paranoia, that was directed by his school friend Aditya Bhattacharya.[21] The film was funded by the filmmaker Shriram Lagoo, an acquaintance of Bhattacharya, who provided them with a few thousand rupees.[22] Khan's parents opposed to his joining films due to their own experiences, wishing that he would instead pursue a "steady" career of an engineer or doctor,[21] and thus the shooting schedule of Paranoia was a clandestine one.[23] In the film, he played the lead role alongside actors Neena Gupta and Victor Banerjee, while simultaneously assisting Bhattacharya.[22] He said that the experience of working on it encouraged him to pursue a career in film.[24]

Khan subsequently joined a theatre group called Avantar, where he performed backstage activities for over a year. He made his stage debut with a small role in the company's Gujarati play, Kesar Bina, at Prithvi Theatre.[22][25] He went on to two of their Hindi plays, and one English play, which was titled Clearing House.[26] After completing his high-school education Khan decided to discontinue studying, despite the objection of his parents, choosing instead to work as an assistant director to Nasir Hussain on two Hindi films—Manzil Manzil (1984) and Zabardast (1985).[21][27]

Career

Actor

Early career

In addition to assisting Hussain, Khan acted in documentaries directed by the students of FTII, Pune.[28] The director Ketan Mehta noticed Khan in those films, and he offered him a role in the low-budget experimental film Holi (1984).[28][29] Featuring an ensemble cast of newcomers, Holi was based on a play by Mahesh Elkunchwar, and dealt with the practice of ragging in India.[30]The New York Times published that the film was "melodramatic" but "very decently and exuberantly performed by the nonprofessional actors".[31] Khan's role was that of a rowdy college student, an "insignificant" role,[30] that was described by CNN-IBN as "lack[ing] in finesse".[32]Holi failed to garner a broad audience, but Nasir Hussain and his son Mansoor signed him as the leading man in Mansoor's directorial debut Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak (1988) alongside Juhi Chawla.[30] The film was a tale of unrequited love and parental opposition based on the Shakespearean tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, with Khan portraying Raj, a "clean-cut, wholesome boy-next-door".[33]Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak proved to be a major commercial success, catapulting both Khan and Chawla to stardom.[34] It was awarded seven Filmfare Awards including a Best Male Debut trophy for Khan.[35] The film has since attained cult status,[32] with the entertainment portal Bollywood Hungama crediting it as a "path-breaking and trend setting film" for Indian cinema.[36]

The year 1989 saw the release of Raakh, a crime thriller from Aditya Bhattacharya that was filmed before the production of Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak.[37] The film tells the story of a young man avenging the rape of his ex-girlfriend (played by Supriya Pathak). Despite a poor reception at the box-office, the film was critically acclaimed.[38] Khan was awarded a National Film Award – Special Jury Award / Special Mention for his performances in both Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak and Raakh.[39] Later that year he reunited with Chawla for the romantic comedy Love Love Love, a commercial failure.[40]

After that, he went on to appear in several other films in the late '80s and early '90s: Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar (1992), Hum Hain Rahi Pyar Ke (1993) (for which he also wrote the screenplay), and Rangeela (1995). Most of these films were successful critically and commercially.[46][47][48] Other successes include Andaz Apna Apna, co-starring Salman Khan. At the time of its release the movie was reviewed unfavorably by critics, but over the years has gained cult status.[49]

Back-to-back success

Khan continued to act in just one or two films a year, then an unusual trait for a mainstream Hindi cinema actor. His only release in 1996 was the Dharmesh Darshan directed commercial blockbuster Raja Hindustani in which he was paired opposite Karisma Kapoor. The film earned him his first Filmfare Best Actor Award, after seven previous nominations, and went on to become the biggest hit of the year, as well as the third-highest grossing Indian film of the 1990s.[50] Khan's career had seemed to hit a plateau at this point of time, and most of the films to follow for the next few years were only partially successful. In 1997, he co-starred alongside Ajay Devgn, Kajol and Juhi Chawla in Ishq, which performed well at the box office. The following year, Khan appeared in the moderately successful Ghulam, for which he also did playback singing.[51] John Mathew Matthan's Sarfarosh (1999), Khan's first release in 1999, was also moderately successful, gaining an above average box office verdict.[52] The film and Khan's role in it were highly appreciated by movie critics, as was his role in Deepa Mehta's art house film Earth. His first release for the new millennium, Mela, in which he acted alongside his real-life brother Faisal Khan, was both a box-office and critical bomb.[53]

His 2007 film, Taare Zameen Par was also produced by him and marked his directorial debut.[59] The film, which was the second offering from Aamir Khan Productions, starred Khan in a supporting role as a teacher who befriends and helps a dyslexic child. It opened to excellent responses from critics and audiences alike. Khan's performance was well-received, although he was particularly applauded for his directing.[60]

Blockbuster films

In 2008, Khan appeared in the movie Ghajini. The film was a major commercial success[61] and became the highest grossing Bollywood movie of that year. For his performance in the film, Khan received several Best Actor nominations at various award ceremonies as well as his fifteenth Filmfare Best Actor nomination.[62]

There was speculation that Khan had disagreements with director Reema Kagti over the tone of his 2012 film Talaash, causing significant delays in the film release.[70] However, Khan said that the claims were baseless.[71] The film was released and was a hit.

Khan's next venture was Dhoom 3 with Yash Raj Films. He has considered this to be the most difficult role of his career to date.[72][73] The film was released worldwide on 20 December 2013.[74][75]Box Office India declared Dhoom 3 "the biggest hit of 2013" after two days of release,[76] with the film grossing ₹2 billion (US$30 million) worldwide in three days[77] and ₹4 billion (US$60 million) worldwide in ten days, making it the highest-grossing Bollywood film of all time.[77][78][79]

In 2014, Khan appeared as the eponymous alien in Rajkumar Hirani's comedy-drama PK. It also starred Anushka Sharma, Sushant Singh Rajput, Boman Irani and Sanjay Dutt in pivotal roles.[80][81] The film received critical acclaim and emerged as the highest grossing Bollywood film of all time (the fourth time Khan achieved this feat).[7][82][83] Khan's performance was unanimously praised by critics. Raja Sen called the film a "triumph" and said: "Aamir Khan is exceptional in PK, creating an irresistibly goofy character and playing him with absolute conviction."[84]

In 2007 he produced the drama Taare Zameen Par which marked his directorial debut. Khan also played a supporting role in the film, sharing the screen with the debut of child actor Darsheel Safary. The film was initially conceived of and developed by the husband and wife team, Amole Gupte and Deepa Bhatia. It is the story of a young child who suffers in school until a teacher identifies him as dyslexic. The movie was critically acclaimed,[87] as well as a box office success. Taare Zameen Par won the 2008 Filmfare Best Movie Award as well as a number of other Filmfare and Star Screen Awards. Khan's work also won him the Best Director. In 2008, Khan launched his nephew Imran Khan's debut in the film Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Na under his production house. The film was a big hit in India, and eventually earned Khan another nomination for Best Movie at the Filmfare.[88]

In 2011, Khan released his home production Dhobi Ghat.[89] which was directed by his wife, Kiran Rao. In 2012, Khan starred in Reema Kagti's neo-noir mystery film, Talaash which was joint production by Excel Entertainment and Aamir Khan Productions. The film was eventually declared a semi-hit in India and accumulated a worldwide gross of ₹1.74 billion (US$26 million).[90]

Television

Khan made his television debut with his social issue based talk show Satyamev Jayte which started airing on 6 May 2012. Aamir was paid Rs. 30 million rupees per episode to host the Satyamev Jayate, and it makes him the highest paid host in Indian television industry (as on June 2012).[92] Aamir, speaking on a radio channel, said that in view of phenomenal public response he may come up with a second season of the show.[93] The show went live simultaneously on Star Plus, STAR World and national broadcaster Doordarshan on the 11 am Sunday slot in eight languages, being the first to do so in India.[94]

Satyamev Jayte opened to positive reviews and feedback from eminent personalities such as social activists, media houses, doctors, film and television personalities. Khan was also praised for his effort.[95] In her review, Ritu Singh of IBN Live stated that, "Aamir Khan deserves an applause for bringing up such a sensitive issue and presenting it in a hard hitting way. The amount of research Aamir and his team has put into the show was clearly visible with the facts and figures presented. Every aspect of the issue was covered with great diligence."[96] Parmita Uniyal from Hindustan Times praised the content and Khan for "step[ing] in to do what journalists are supposed to do – make a difference. The show is a classic example of that."[97] Despite the initial hype and being labelled as the channel's most ambitious project till date, the initial viewership figures were not very encouraging; the show received an average television rating of 2.9 (with a reach of 14.4 million, it was watched by only 20% of TV viewers) in the six metros in its debut episode on 6 May. The rating was far lower than those of most other celebrity-hosted shows at the time.[98][99]

Khan made to cover page of TIME magazine Asia edition in September 2012 issue with title "Khan's Quest" – "He is breaking the Bollywood mold by tackling India's social evils. Can an actor change a nation?"[100]

Humanitarian and political causes

In April 2006, Aamir participated in the demonstrations put up by the Narmada Bachao Andolan committee with their leader Medha Patkar after the Gujarat government's decision to raise the height of the Narmada dam. He quoted to support adivasis (tribes), who might be displaced from their homes.[101] Later he faced protests and a partial ban on his film Fanaa, but the Prime Minister of India, Manmohan Singh supported him by saying "Everyone has the freedom of expression. If someone says something on a particular subject, that doesn't mean you should start protesting."[102] Aamir also lent his support to the Janlokpal Bill Movement led by Anna Hazare in August 2011.[103]

He has been supporting common causes; when asked about views on entertainment tax in 2012 budget Aamir said, "I don't want any reduction in that, all I expect is focus on education and nutrition."[104] He quit the GOI's copyrights panels in February 2010 after facing sharp differences with other members.[105] During the promotion of 3 Idiots he journeyed to diverse parts of India, mostly to small towns, noting that "film makers from Mumbai don't understand small town India."[106] This experience of reaching out to 'regional India' was extended in his debut TV show Satyamev Jayate. On 16 July 2012, Khan met the prime minister and the minister for social justice and empowerment and discussed the plight of manual scavengers and sought eradication of manual scavenging in the country.[107]

References

See also

Awards and honours

Filmography

In March 2015, Khan stated that he has quit non vegetarian food and has adopted vegan lifestyle after being inspired by his wife Kiran Rao.[130][131][132]

On 28 December 2005, Khan married Kiran Rao who had been an assistant director to Ashutosh Gowariker during the filming of Lagaan.[124] On 5 December 2011, Khan and his wife announced the birth of their son, Azad Rao Khan,[125] through a surrogate mother.[126][127] In 2007, Khan lost a custody battle for his younger brother Faisal to their father, Tahir Hussain.[128] His father died on 2 February 2010.[129]

Khan married Reena Dutta, who had a small part in Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak, on 18 April 1986. They have two children, a son named Junaid and a daughter, Ira. Reena was involved briefly in Khan's career when she worked as a producer for Lagaan. In December 2002, Khan filed for divorce, ending the 15-year marriage. Reena took custody of both children.[123]

Personal life

In February 2015, Aamir Khan lashed out at a popular online comedy group All India Bakchod for its celebrity Roast episode. He said ‘I completely believe in freedom of speech, no issues. But we have to understand that we all have a certain responsibility. When I heard what was being described to me I felt it was a violent event.’ He further said violence is not just physical but it has verbal aspects to it. Calling the roast a shameless act, Aamir Khan did not spare even his friends from the film industry Karan, Ranveer and Arjun.[122]

In 2007, Khan was invited to have a wax imitation of himself put on display at Madame Tussauds in London.[115] However, Khan declined, stating that "It's not important to me... people will see my films if they want to. Also, I cannot deal with so many things, I have bandwidth only for that much."[116]

Khan has a reputation for shunning award ceremonies and not accepting any popular Indian film awards. Though nominated many times, Khan has not attended any Indian film award ceremony as he feels "Indian film awards lack credibility".[110] When asked about the selection procedure and authenticity of popular Indian Film awards, Aamir Khan says, "fact is that I have no objections to film awards per se. I just feel that if I don't value a particular film award, then I won't attend it either. Apart from the National Film Awards, I don't see any other award ceremony that I should give value to. My personal experience about these award ceremonies is that I don't trust them. I have no faith in them so I would prefer to stay away."[111][112][113][114]

In a 2009 interview, Khan states that he tends to take an independent approach to the world of filmmaking, noting that he does not "do different things; I try to do it in a different manner. I think every person should follow his/her dream and try and make it possible to create an ability to achieve it backed by its practicality." He has also indicated that he is more interested in the process of filmmaking than in the end result: "For me, the process is more important, more joyful. I would like to have my entire concentration on the process right from the first step."

In the media

[109]

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